Coastal Notes

little bits of this and that

Uncategorized

  • A Little Time Away

    My that was a truly lovely holiday season. I’d be counting my blessings, but, truly, I can’t count that high. The gouache above is a “picture in my head” from our 5 days in the Alaskan Interior in early November. We went chasing the Northern Lights with dear friends. We failed, but we had the Read more

  • A Moral Dilemma

    When I was in grammar school, I was bullied by the “big kid” in class.  As I recall it, this bullying was very specific — he wanted my lunch and he got it.  Now, mind you, I usually had pretty great lunches: Homemade sandwiches, homemade baked goods and from time to time, fresh lobster rolls Read more

  • well hello there, good old friend of mine

    It’s been a busy past few months, and I’ve given permission for many things to take me away from writing and painting. Isn’t it wonderful how, in the midst of our hectic, over scheduled, anxious and often chaotic lives there are these shining moments of profound joy. Moments of Grace, some of my friends would Read more

  • Hulbert Creek (#1)

    Acrylic; 9X12 on Birch Board. October, 2025. Read more

  • Hi, Anxiety

    Everything I know about anxiety I learned from my dog. Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration. While I have learned so much about anxiety over my years, I never really appreciated the absolute sense of no control over anxiety that some folks feel. We all, I think, experience anxiety — to various Read more

  • Moving through & Moving on

    I am trying very intentionally to move on from both larger format acrylics and small watercolors. My goal over the coming months is to produce more, smaller acrylics. This first one (9×12 on birch board), from a friend’s stunning photo of the night sky from beneath live oaks, took me an unacceptable amount of time Read more

  • THE STORIES OF OUR LIVES

    We recently had to empty our car’s trunk, glovebox, center console and side door pockets in a very very short period of time – about 10 minutes. We literally dumped everything into the very handy, very large quantity of grocery bags stored in the trunk (both paper and reusable). Later we sorted through these things, Read more

  • AFWOYT

    (“A Frivolous Waste of Your Time”) (…you have been warned…) I appreciate that software companies have designers on staff to enhance the overall user experience. As “soft”ware, there is a certain amount of on-going enhancement that we users have come to expect. But when does it just become decor for decor’s sake — when is Read more

  • “A Reasonable Expectation”

    Sorry for the gap in writing, but we’ve had a dozen different projects that have taken all the time away from artistic endeavors. I must strive to make time for my art. I’ve also been pondering. Like most of us, I’ll assume, I have struggled with how to talk about the deaths of so many Read more

  • Coming Home, Again

    We’ve spent the past two evenings warmly wrapped in joy (and excellent food and drink!) as invitees to the 3 day marriage festival of our good friends’ only child. She is marrying into a family from abroad, and the large cohort of friends and family from both sides are diverse and far flung. This reminds Read more